Traditions
by wolfe80
Summary: A short and sweet Valentine's Story


_**A/N – This is just a quick little Valentine's Day drabble that popped into my head last night after JoeCool701 requested I write something. I decided to write it this morning since I'm still a ways off on finishing the next chapter of Wildest Dreams. Happy Valentine's Day Marshmallows!**_

 _ **Disclaimer: All original VM characters belong to Rob Thomas.**_

She paced back and forth a few more times before she finally gave up and went over to sit down. She couldn't believe she was here… again. _Why do you hate me karma?_ She flopped onto her back and threw her arm over her face in an exaggerated fashion taking aloud slow breath at the same time.

A familiar smug voice suddenly broke the silence, causing her to sit up in surprise. "Making this an annual tradition, are we?" The smirk on his face was partially hidden by his cellphone as he snapped a picture of her. "I must say I appreciate a new screensaver for my phone though. I can't wait to see what it will be next Valentine's Day. You must have really done something in a prior life to piss off the wrong saint."

Veronica rolled her eyes and was about to ask him how he even knew she was there when a young deputy walked in behind Logan, heading straight for the cell door. "Sacks said the tenant isn't pressing charges and you are free to go."

"Well the tenant is a _thief_ … maybe you should arrest them instead. They stole my friend's laptop and I was only trying to retrieve it," Veronica said in protest as she stood from the worn mattress and headed toward the open door.

"Well your _friend_ can come and file an _official_ police report, and we'll look into it then," the deputy snidely replied as he turned and headed back out of the holding cell area.

Veronica glanced at Logan who ducked his head for a moment, apparently not wanting to be on the receiving end of her obvious irritation. After a second though, he chanced looking up at her again and gave her an assuaging smile. "Need a lift?"

Veronica let out a loud sigh and nodded a bit reluctantly. "Yeah… thanks." It wasn't like she had anyone else to call to give her a ride back to her car and she doubted the sheriff's department would be so kind as to return her there either. Mac was surely already out on her highly anticipated date and Wallace and her dad were both out of town this weekend. Maybe karma didn't hate her as much as she thought since at least now she had a ride back to retrieve her car.

Logan stood quietly over in the waiting area as Veronica had retrieved her belongings from the same deputy that had opened the cell door for her. She was actually glad that Vinnie didn't seem to be around because getting harassed by him for a B&E really wasn't something she had looked forward to on her ride in the back of Sacks' squad car on the way to the station. Sacks also seemed to have disappeared again, which she wasn't disappointed about either.

As she followed Logan out to the parking lot, she couldn't help but notice he was dressed a bit nicer than his normal everyday college attire. Things seemed to have gotten back to a comfortable friendship between them again, almost like it was back before Lilly had died when they were all just really good friends. Although part of that may have been because all of their interactions had been completely limited to running into each other in the Hearst cafeteria and the library. The start of the year had been a bit awkward after everything they'd been through freshman year, but they gradually became more and more comfortable around each other again. By the end of winter term, they had gotten to the point of frequently sitting together while they ate in the cafeteria or brief friendly chats at the library.

"Hmm… you look a bit over dressed for photographing suspected criminals at the sheriff's office. I'm not interrupting a hot date or something, am I?" she hesitantly asked as they reached his Range Rover.

Logan glanced down at his attire for a moment, as if he didn't even realize what he was wearing, and then looked back up at her with a small smirk and shook his head. "Nope," he answered as he opened the passenger door for her. "I had a _thing_ … for a class…" was all he said as she climbed in and closed the door behind her.

"So… where to?" he asked as he climbed into the driver's seat.

"Soho Drive?" Veronica asked with a questioning look, wondering if he knew where that was.

"Sure… not far from Dog Beach, right?" Logan asked as he started the engine. Veronica nodded and gave him a small grateful smile.

"So how did you know I was arrested?" Veronica asked as they pulled out of the parking lot. She'd given Cliff a call to try to get her out of whatever charges they were going to throw at her, but she hadn't called anyone else yet.

"Come on… Veronica Mars in jail? Every nerve ending in my body started tingling and an inexplicable force just drew me there," Logan replied causing her to laugh.

"Seriously though, what were you doing there?"

Logan shrugged. "Just fate I guess. Bumped into Sacks and he mentioned that you were there… something about using your only phone call to try to reach your lawyer, who was at a _seminar_ in Vegas and he thought you might need a friend to help you out."

"Well… thanks," she replied cautiously, feeling a bit strange all of a sudden to have him admit that yes, they were friends again. Neither of them had labeled what their current status was these days and for whatever reason, having him say that made her feel a bit uneasy. She did want them to be friends again, of course, but it wasn't until he'd said it out loud that she'd realized maybe she actually wanted something more again.

Veronica's car was easy to spot as they turned onto Soho Drive and he pulled up behind it and turned off the engine. "So… do you want to try to recover Mac's laptop again? I could be your look out this time so you won't get busted. I'm pretty good at bird calls."

Veronica instantly cocked her head in his direction and shot him a questioning glare. "I didn't say it was _Mac's_ laptop I was trying to recover. I know I don't have a _lot_ of friends, but I do have more than _one_." She caught the sheepish look on Logan's face before he looked away. "We can do this the easy way, or the hard way, but you know better than to think you're getting off the hook, right?" she asked with determination in her voice.

Logan exhaled slowly and nodded before he turned back toward her. "For the record, I'm not a _thief_ ," he started out, looking slightly ashamed now. "Mac put it in the wrong bag when she was talking to tall, dark and nerdy last night in the cafeteria. I was too mesmerized by watching the courting ritual of a computer geek to notice that she'd slid it into my bag instead of hers."

Veronica laughed slightly at that. Mac's latest crush, who had finally asked her out the prior night was a guy from one of her computer classes who Logan had been teasing Mac about since the beginning of the term. It had also been great fun teasing both Logan and Mac when they showed up with matching computer bags at the beginning of the year. "Then why the whole clueless act when we left the station?" Veronica asked in confusion.

"Well… you seemed a bit irritated when I got there… and I don't know…" he shrugged and gave her a chagrined look. "It was just more fun to play along."

Veronica rolled her eyes as she shook her head at him. "And were you seriously going to let me try to break in again?" she asked incredulously.

Logan's smug grin finally returned. "Come on… what better way could you think of for spending Valentine's than a little more B&E," he replied with an amused tone to his voice. "And you certainly wouldn't get arrested this time."

Veronica shook her head at him again and then a thought occurred to her. "Did you call the police and have me _arrested_?" she asked suspiciously.

"No, no, no…" Logan quickly replied as he held his hands up in defense. "Unfortunately, I have a very nosy neighbor who spotted a suspicious blonde woman lurking around the front of my place. And also unfortunately for you, I guess there was a patrol car nearby who, uncharacteristically of the Balboa Sheriff's Department, responded immediately."

"So the sheriff's department called you then?" Veronica asked as she continued to put all the pieces of the puzzle together.

Logan shook his head before he replied. "Nope, nosy neighbor told me about it when I got home. I must have just missed you by twenty minutes or so. The sheriff's department hadn't figured out who owned the house yet I guess. I um… just closed on it a couple weeks ago and I guess the systems aren't all updated yet or something."

Veronica glanced past Logan up the street at the beachfront bungalow. "You bought a house?" she asked in surprise, as her brain finally caught up to that piece of news.

Logan grinned more as he nodded in reply. "Would you like a tour? You wouldn't even need to pick the lock this time, although you're welcome to do it again if you'd rather."

Veronica laughed and nodded. "Sure... maybe you need to invest in an actual security system… or a better lock. I had it unlocked in no time at all."

Logan dipped his head slightly before he glanced up and replied. "I wouldn't want to deter a certain petite blonde criminal from visiting anytime she wanted to though."

Veronica quirked an eyebrow at him, not expecting that response at all, but then laughed at the ridiculousness of it. "I'm sure that could easily get awkward though… what if _she_ dropped in _unexpectedly_ … when you have other _guests_ …"

Logan chuckled and shook his head. "Still not as keen of an observer as I expected you to be," he mumbled softly as he started the car again. She'd parked a few houses down from his house when she'd first arrived, following the tracer that Mac had installed in her laptop on foot once she got in the general area. She was still internalizing his comment as he opened the garage door and parked inside.

"Well, we're here," Logan announced as he opened his door and climbed out. She could tell he'd put up a wall that hadn't been there minutes before by his terse tone and wished she'd said something sooner, but his reaction… no his subtle confession… had caught her by surprise.

By the time she opened the passenger door, he was already opening a door that led into the house. "Coming?" he asked over his shoulder as he stood in the doorway.

"It's a bit sparse in the furniture and decorating department," Logan explained as he waved carelessly around the open design of the kitchen and living area. There were a few bar stools in front of a breakfast counter, but the rest of the space was empty. "I haven't had a chance to go shopping for furniture yet," Logan explained as he tossed his car keys down on the counter. "It has a pretty decent view though, I guess," he added as he gestured toward the large picture windows that faced out toward the ocean. The sun was just starting to set and it was actually breathtaking.

Veronica was still staring out at the sunset and was about to say something when she heard Logan moving again. "Mac's laptop is in on my bed, I'll grab it for you."

Veronica glanced his direction and watched as he walked toward a hallway without looking back at her at all. She bit on her lip for a minute and then turned and headed in the direction he'd gone. She saw a light come on in a room that was also on the ocean side at the end of the hall. She walked by what looked like an empty second bedroom on the opposite side of the house and continued toward where the light was coming from. When she was there earlier, she'd tried to peek in the windows, but there was a fence restricting access to the back and the blinds on the front of the house had all been closed.

"At least you furnished the most important room," she said teasingly as she walked through the doorway into the master bedroom. "You must miss the turn down service at the Grand though," she added as she took in the state of his unmade king size bed, although given the size of the bed and the fact half of it was still partially made, she could tell he was definitely the only one who had slept in it recently.

She could sense the embarrassment in Logan's laugh as he turned toward her and nodded. "Yeah… that and room service." He gestured with his hand toward the undisturbed side of the bed where a silver laptop was sitting, although his eyes didn't leave hers. "As promised… that which you seek."

"Hmm…" Veronica mumbled thoughtfully as she took a step closer to him, not breaking eye contact at all. "Offering to be my backup for some B&E is probably the most romantic Valentine's Day present I've ever received," she commented with a sly smile.

"That's because all your other suitors didn't know the real you," Logan replied as the corner of his mouth quirked up into a more devious smile.

Veronica continued moving toward him. "So… that's what you are then?" she asked as she tilted her head and looked sensually up at him. "One of my suitors?"

Logan swallowed hard and shook his head at her, which she hadn't expected and for a second gave her pause that she'd misread his comment earlier in the car. "I want to be your _only_ suitor," he replied, still staring intently into her eyes.

Veronica took a quick breath and felt a warmth that she hadn't felt in over a year pass through her. She smiled and nodded in reply before closing the rest of the space between them and leaning up to press her lips to his.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Veronica," Logan said breathlessly when their lips finally parted.

Getting arrested on Valentine's Day was definitely becoming one of Veronica's favorite holiday traditions.


End file.
